


The Wakanda Meeting

by White_Noise



Series: The Casualty of War Series [7]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Natasha needs a kick in the ass too, New Accords, Not A Fix-It, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Civil War (Marvel), Rhodey is awesome, Rhodey's POV, Steve seems to finally be getting it, The two teams finally start talking, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 07:03:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7881190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/White_Noise/pseuds/White_Noise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reaching over, Rhodey grabbed a small box that Pepper had placed on the table before the meeting. Opening the box, he quickly placed the pens in the middle of the table where the former heroes could reach. The pens were beautiful, old fashioned fountain pens. Rhodey had found them in Tony’s workshop when he had gone down there with Vision to start cleaning it out after the funeral. It seemed fitting that they should be brought to this meeting. </p>
<p>Rogers seemed to freeze over at the sight of them, blue eyes suddenly damp as if the man was holding back tears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wakanda Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> As I promised in 'Fear of Drowning' finally the two teams meet again and Rhodey has a lot to say about that. I love Rhodey so much but writing him was so hard so I hope I did ok.

Even in the air controlled meeting room of Wakanda’s Royal Palace, they couldn’t escape the stifling heat. Sitting at the giant, hand carved table, Rhodey could feel the thin layer of sweat forming on his brow. 

On his right side, Pepper sat, fiddling with her folder of papers. The seating had been tactical, Pepper seated nearest the grand chair which would soon be occupied by the king of this small, yet advanced country. On Rhodey’s other side, Vision sat. 

It had been a decision of Peppers, to invite the remains of the Avengers team to this meeting. Rhodey had accepted easily, the papers in his hand reason enough to come here. Vision too, had wanted to come. Seemed to think that it was time for the surviving Avengers to finally face each other. The android had been quiet and withdrawn ever since the fight on the airstrip in Germany. 

Tony had worked hard to try and cheer the other Avenger up, adding that to his insane list of duties as he tried to fix everything. After Tony’s murder, the android had become even more withdrawn, rarely even talking anymore.

On Visions other side, the dark haired teenager sat, fidgeting in his seat and looking around the grand room with wide eyes. 

It was only after Tony’s funeral that Rhodey had even realised the strange teenager who had appeared at the funeral had been the spandexed hero who had fought with them in Germany. A simply teenager who had somehow proved himself enough that Tony Stark had thought him good enough to become an Avenger. 

Rhodey had been hesitant to even invite him to this meeting, wanting to try and keep the kid out of the politics, even if he couldn’t keep the kid safe from the action but he knew he had lost when the kid had turned up on the private airstrip with Vision, a look of determination on his pale face. 

Now Parker sat slouched in his seat. Unlike Pepper, Rhodey and even Vision, the kid wasn’t dressed formally, instead dressed in jeans and a worn hoodie. The kid seemed impervious to the heat, the hood thrown over his head as he played with the cuffs on his wrist and occasionally tugged on the strings of his clothes. 

On Peters other side was an empty seat. 

Ross’s trial was due to start the next day and Bruce had decided to remain behind in the US, working with the legal team on their second plan should Pepper fail in her quest to drag the rogue Avengers home. 

In the corner of the room, giving the table and the small team seated there a wide berth was Natasha Romanov. 

Rhodey tried to ignore her presence. He had known the woman had been a turncoat after it was revealed her position as a spy for SHIELD during the Vanko incident but he had wanted to follow Tony’s lead. When Romanov had insisted that she was on Tony’s side during the Accords mess, Rhodey had truly wanted to believe her and he hated that once again, her true colours had shown through when she had stabbed them all in the back. She was a liar, a betrayer and Rhodey didn’t care what others thought, he didn’t want her near him or the people he cared about ever again. 

The fact that she had the gall to invite herself to Tony’s funeral even after Rhodey had told FRIDAY (who had handled all the details of the funeral) that she was not to be invited, had just gone to prove how despicable the woman was. 

How she had made her way to Wakanda was also a mystery. Or why she thought she had the right to be here. She had signed the Accords, even if she had disregarded them the moment it became slightly inconvenient to her. 

Sighing, Rhodey shifted slightly in his chair. 

Although he had been working hard to regain mobility after his injuries, he still had a long way to go, alternating between the leg braces Tony had created before his murder and a wheelchair. 

Today, the wheelchair had won, Rhodey knowing that he needed all his strength to face his former team mates. Strength he couldn’t waste on his damaged legs. He didn’t like that his injuries were to be displayed in front of the former heroes but there was nothing he could really do about it. 

As he had told Tony so long ago, this was a bad blow but he had known what he had signed up for. Unlike Tony. 

Rhodey knew that was the worst thing about this. Most of the people on this team were either military, former SHIELD (Or in Wanda’s case, HYDRA.) At some point, most of them had sworn to give everything, up to and including their lives, for what they were doing. But Tony had been a civilian. He had never made such a promise. 

Yet where Rhodey had lost his legs, Tony was the one who had lost his life. It wasn’t fair. 

Sighing, Rhodey ran his fingers over the folder in his hands. 

At the far side of the room, the door swung open. 

Turning, Rhodey watched as King T’Challa entered the room, followed by two powerful looking women, his bodyguards. 

Gracefully, the King walked to his chair and sat down, nodding at Pepper, who had stood up to greet him. 

Turning back to the door, Rhodey fought to keep his face still as slowly, sheepishly, Steve Rogers entered, the rest of his team following closely behind him. 

It seemed like Rogers had some decency at least, the Winter Soldier noticeably absent from the group. Rhodey was grateful for that. He didn’t know what he would do if the Stark’s murderer had appeared at this meeting. 

Rogers looked worse for wear, his face pale and the shadows under his eyes deep and dark. 

Good. It was petty but Rhodey hoped the man wasn’t sleeping well. Hoped that the man was being haunted by his actions. 

Besides Rhodey, Pepper still stood, her body tense. The she was moving towards the disgraced Avengers.

The slap echoed through the silent room, Rogers head shooting to the side with the force of Peppers hand. 

Behind Rogers, the rest of the disgraced heroes stood in shock, clearly not expecting Pepper’s reaction. 

Turning sharply, Pepper retreated to her seat, her high heels clicking on the floor, ignoring the looks she was getting from the Avengers, both Former and Legal. 

At the head of the table, T’Challa watched the scene with a blank face, his two body guards also watching silently. After a moment, he nodded and turned to the former Heroes.  
“Please have a seat so Miss Potts can begin.”

Slowly, the former heroes made their way to the table and sat, shooting nervous glances towards Pepper. Only Sam Wilson looked away, staring right at Rhodey. Rhodey glared back, daring the other man to say something about his wheelchair, about the injuries he had received. 

Wilson had the decency to look away at least, after meeting Rhodeys eyes. 

Besides Rhodey, Pepper opened her folder and pulled out 5 copies of the new Accords. With practiced movements, she slid the documents across the table towards Rogers now seated team. Quickly, she snapped the folder closed but not before Rhodey saw the 6th copy still in the folder. 

“The new Accords.” She said bluntly, ignoring how Rogers winced opposite her. “Read them, understand them, sign them and do your damn duty.”

Opposite her, Rogers avoided looking at the documents.

“No. We made our stance clear already.” The man muttered, looking at his own hands. Beside him, Sam reached for the documents. Ignoring Rogers, the former soldier quickly distributed the copies among the team before opening his own copy, scanning the pages. 

After a moment, the man paused, reading a page with wide eyes. 

“Captain. These are different documents from the ones which you were first presented with. I feel it best for you to read them.” This time it was T’Challa who spoke, looking straight at Rogers. Rhodey couldn’t help but notice that he had reached over and put a hand on Peppers, stopping her from losing her temper. 

Reaching over, Rhodey grabbed a small box that Pepper had placed on the table before the meeting. Opening the box, he quickly placed the pens in the middle of the table where any of the former heroes could reach.

The pens were beautiful, old fashioned fountain pens. They had been found in Tony’s workshop when Rhodey had gone down there with Vision to start cleaning it out after the funeral. It seemed fitting that they should be brought to the meeting. 

Rogers seemed to freeze over at the sight of them, blue eyes suddenly damp as if the man was holding back tears. 

At the end of the table opposite Peter, Clint Barton snorted. 

“I knew this was one of Stark's traps.” The man muttered. Clint was known for running his mouth when emotional. Most of the Avengers knew it and could see that there was no venom behind those words. The problem was, not everyone had been exposed to Clint’s behaviour before or knew him well enough to see the sorrow behind the poisonous words. 

Rhodey didn’t even see Peter move. One moment, the teen was seated quietly on their side of the table, watching the meeting carefully. The next he had thrown out webs from his wrist cuffs, using the momentum to catapult himself over the table, his feet hitting Clint in the chest and sending the man to the floor. Wanda screamed in shock as she and Scott, who had both been seated next to Clint, ducked out of the way. All watched in horror as Peter pushed his whole weight on Clint, one hand on the man’s throat as he punched the archer in the head. 

“Peter!” Rhodey ordered, causing the teen to freeze, fist raised and ready to bring down on Clint’s face a second time. 

“Calm down son. He’s not worth it.” 

There was a long moment of silence. Slowly, Peter lowered his hand.

“He’s really not.” The teenager muttered. Turning on his heels, his full weight still on Clint’s chest, the teen stepped away, jumping onto the table and walking back to his seat. With a sigh, the teen jumped off the table next to Vision.

“Mr Parker, I feel I should ask that there be no shoes on my table.” T’Challa stated as Clint groaned and rolled to his feet, carefully feeling the side of his face for any injuries. 

Peter sank into the chair, looking sheepish. 

“Sorry Sir.” The teen muttered. 

Besides Rhodey, Pepper turned in her seat. 

“Mr Vision, why don’t you take Mr Parker for a walk?” The woman said. Despite being worded as such, it wasn’t a suggestion. Vision seemed to understand and stood up, grabbing Peter by the arm to assist the teen to stand again. 

“With Your Highnesses permission, we will go and explore your wonderful Palace.” The android said, looking towards T’Challa for permission. 

T’Challa nodded. 

“If course. I am sure Okoye would be happy to show you both around the palace.” He replied. Behind him, one of the female guards stepped forward, nodding to Vision and Peter. 

Vision turned and guided Peter away from the table, following the female warrior towards the door. As they passed, Rhodey couldn’t help but notice Romanov slink deeper into the shadows where she had been standing, clearly trying to keep out of the way of the other woman. Okoye paused briefly, eyeing the female assassin before continuing her journey out the door, closely followed by the two Avengers.

On the opposite side of the table, Wanda turned as if to follow them. Quickly, Scott stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder. Quickly, he shook his head before guiding her back to her seat. 

A silence fell over the group, no one knowing how to break it. Then a movement caught everyone’s attention. Reaching forward, Sam grabbed the box of pens and pulled it close, taking one of them out. With determination, the man signed his name on the piece of paper before him before returning the pen to its box. Closing the pile of papers, the man slid it back over the table to Pepper. 

Rhodey caught his eyes, giving him a nod which the man quickly returned. 

“Sam?” Steve gasped beside Wilson, looking shocked. 

Sam shrugged, not looking at the other man.

“I agree with them.” He replied. “And I want to help you.”

“Thank you Mr Wilson.” Pepper said, opening the folder once again, placing Sam’s signed copy with the other copy still inside. 

“Help with what?” Steve asked, looking between Sam and Pepper. Pepper seemed to stiffen at the question but Sam turned and looked at the man with sad eyes. 

“Help them bring Ross to trial. To get justice for Tony.” The man explained. 

Steve went pale, blood draining from his face. 

“What?” He asked, looking around wildly. 

“Don’t you pay attention to the news Rogers?” Rhodey finally spat, getting sick of the man’s ignorance. “Ross organised Tony’s murder. Or do you not care enough to listen?”

Steve stared, shocked at Rhodey. 

“I love him.” The man tried to defend himself.

“Love him?” Rhodey spat. “I don’t even think you knew him Rogers!”

Steve opened his mouth, clearly wanting to defend himself but Rhodey had been holding onto his anger for too long. He needed to get this off his chest now.

“Why do you think we came here Rogers? Did you think that maybe we just wanted this to be over? Did you think that we wanted to give you the opportunity to do right by Tony for once in your miserable life? Or maybe in your misguided sense of morality, you thought we were here to punish you. Maybe you thought we had sold you out to the UN for your crimes.”

The guilt on Rogers face was enough to prove Rhodey right. 

“I don’t even know what disgusts me more. The fact that Tony trusted you with his life or the fact that you didn’t trust him back, even when you claim to have loved him.” 

“I did.” Steve said in a small voice. 

Rhodey couldn’t hold back the sneer, even as he felt Pepper’s hand on his arm, trying to calm him down. 

“I don’t know what he saw in you. I don’t know what any of us saw in you. You claim you want to do what was right yet you turned your back on your supposed lover, went against the UN, ignored the requests of 117 countries and assisted the terrorist who MURDERED Tony’s parents!”

“What?” Sam muttered from next to Steve, turning to look at the other man in horror. Down the table, the three other rogue Avengers turned, looking equally horrified. Rhodey ignored them. He needed to get this off his chest. 

“Or did you think you could hide it forever? How your friend Bucky murdered Howard and Maria! Tony was just a kid and your ‘friend’ took his parents away. Yet you still expected him to help you save the man who left him an orphan and when he refused, you beat him half to death and left him to freeze in the middle of Siberia! So I am asking you this Rogers. What the hell gave you the right?”

Steve was slumped in his chair now, unable to look at anyone. 

Reaching for the folder before him, Rhodey threw it towards the miserable man. 

“For you MR Rogers! Your dis-honourable discharge from the United States Army. Your rank has been stripped from you and all your military honours have been withdrawn. Your memorial at the Smithsonian has been taken down and your name removed from the Washington War Memorial. You will never be referred to a Captain ever again.”

Finally exhausted, Rhodey slumped back in the wheelchair.

“They stripped you the same day they stripped Ross of his rank. That’s irony for you.” He muttered. 

Beside Rogers, Wilson slowly stood up. Turning his back on Rogers, the man left the room. Further down the table, the rest of the former heroes were in shock. Clint was leaning both elbows on the table, face buried in both hands. Wanda was curled up on her chair, a hand pressed to her mouth to muffle her sobs. Scott Lang sat dumb, staring into space with wide eyes and pale face. 

In her corner, Romanov was hunched in on herself, confirming Rhodey’s theory that the woman had known of the assassination and had assisted Rogers in keeping it from Tony.  
Slowly, Pepper got to her feet. She turned to face T’Challa. 

“How is Tony’s technology working?” She asked.

The King looked at the woman.

“The Binarily Augmented Retro Framing Tech has been very positive for Sgt Barnes recovery. My people are in debt to Mr Stark for all that he did before his passing.” The King confirmed. Pepper nodded and reached into the folder, pulling out the 6th copy of the Accords. She handed it to T’Challa. 

“For him. Tony worked so hard on his pardon. On everyone’s pardons. I may not agree with it but I refuse to let his work be wasted.” 

She turned to face the rest of the miserable looking heroes.

“You have all been pardoned for your crimes of aiding and abetting a terrorist and for murder of multiple civilians and destruction of millions of dollars’ worth of property. Tony Starks last gift to the people who he considered family and who abandoned him when he needed you all. I don’t give a shit if you sign the Accords or not but if any of you are the heroes you claim to be, you will testify against Ross and help us bring him to justice, for Tony’s sake.” 

Turning to Rhodey, the woman watched as the man carefully moving the wheelchair away from the table and turned towards the door, ignoring the slumped heroes, the observant King and even the silent assassin hiding in the shadows as the two made their way out of the room, heading towards the landing strip where Peter, Vision and Sam Wilson would be waiting. 

There was a lot that still needed to be done.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Rhodey so much and I feel he would be the one to suffer the most from Tony's death and Steve's betrayal.
> 
> I think I only have maybe one more story left in this verse. I still really want to write a story from Sam's point of view (To try and understand why he sided with Steve) but it has been difficult and I already have the bare bones of a possible ending. However, it does feature some questionable ethics from Steve and suggestion of him going villain of sorts but I did want to work on the Nomad idea. Will see if it ever happens.


End file.
